The opening leg of the Solitaire du Figaro Paprec was won by Tom Dolan, ahead of Loïs Berrehar and Paul Morvan. Sailorz looks back at the race with three Figaro specialists: skippers Gildas Mahé and Gaston Morvan, along with Port-la-Forêt Finistère training centre coach Erwan Tabarly.
This opening leg offered the fleet of 36 solo sailors a broad mix of conditions, well summed up by Gaston Morvan, who has competed in four Solitaires, including a 3rd place overall in 2024: “They were thrown straight in at the deep end, with three days of tough conditions followed by a complete change of pace, namely very light airs along the Spanish coast. You really had to adapt.”
The long upwind leg down the Bay of Biscay proved demanding, prompting Gildas Mahé (eleven appearances, runner-up in 2019) to say: “They had up to 30 knots during the frontal passage, but it was mainly the sea state that was brutal, not especially high but very short and steep. These boats take on huge amounts of water, both inside and out, so in terms of onboard comfort and rest, it was far from easy.”
One notable aspect was that race director decided to finish the leg off Cape Finisterre, 50 miles short of the original finish line in Vigo, due to the extremely light conditions likely to significantly extend race times. “Had they gone all the way, it would have become a really long leg with an extra night at sea and less recovery time,” agrees Erwan Tabarly (sixteen Solitaires, 3rd in 2011). “And I think it was the right call to stop before things became too random. In the end, the results reflect what actually happened on the water and reward the sailors who performed best.”
A game of small shifts
From a tactical standpoint, this stage between Perros-Guirec and Vigo was “not especially exciting to follow“, in Gaston Morvan’s words, as he explains: “I don’t think they particularly enjoyed themselves. There weren’t any major strategic options, it was more a pure speed race with small positioning shifts to manage. And towards the end, it was all about finding the little puffs of breeze.”
After the first section to Wolf Rock, where the fleet remained tightly packed (36 boats within 7 miles), the descent of the Bay of Biscay was nonetheless marked by lateral positioning choices whose outcome remained uncertain for a long time. “Based on the weather files they had before the start, there was a risk of running into very light wind approaching Spain. In theory, the boats positioned further west had a better chance of avoiding some of that calm. In the end, it didn’t quite play out that way and actually, those who came in from below ended up faring better,” explains Erwan Tabarly.
“Tom fully deserved
this victory”
Among them was Tom Dolan (Kingspan), who claimed his third Solitaire stage win (after victories in 2023 and 2024). “A year ago, he arrived in Vigo injured and had to retire. This time he arrives as the winner, which is a pretty nice turnaround. And from a sporting perspective, he was at the front from start to finish and fully deserved the win,” continues Erwan Tabarly. “He didn’t make the difference through huge tactical calls, but he was incredibly precise with his positioning. I got the feeling the others were watching each other a lot, whereas he sailed his own Tom Dolan race, in a more self-taught style,” adds Gaston Morvan.
Gildas Mahé, who works year-round with the Irishman, winner of the 2024 Solitaire, adds: “Tom was in a really good mindset before the start. He was confident in his upwind speed in breeze conditions, so he wanted to attack without taking too many risks. He managed to execute the race plan he had set for himself very well.” According to Mahé, the difference ultimately came from a series of small positioning moves: “A first one in the Channel that paid off because he hadn’t had a great start and moved up to third at Wolf Rock. A second one during the descent, and a final move at the end that I actually thought was a bit risky compared to Arnaud Biston, who had gone back behind the pack off Cape Finisterre. Tom managed to hold onto that slight separation towards the gate, and that was the moment he pushed the risk level the furthest.”
Mahé concludes about the winner: “The other thing I noticed is that he has really found the right settings on the boat. We changed the rig not long ago and after the BPGO Trophy, which we sailed together, we felt we’d gone a bit too extreme with some of the set-ups, so we decided to return to something more conventional. I get the feeling that decision really paid off.”
Almost all the favourites
already in contention
At the finish, the gaps were far from insignificant: Tom Dolan finished 33 minutes and 34 seconds ahead of runner-up Loïs Berrehar (Banque Populaire), and 41 minutes and 54 seconds ahead of Paul Morvan (Foricher-French Touch), with only the top six finishing within the same hour. “He managed to open up some solid gaps. It’s not game over for the others, but some are already quite a long way back,” notes Erwan Tabarly.
Behind the Irishman, there were no major surprises on this opening leg, with almost all the contenders for the overall title finishing inside the top 10. Loïs Berrehar “confirmed his status as one of the favourites by finishing right behind, still fully in the fight,” says Erwan Tabarly, while according to Gaston Morvan, “this wasn’t necessarily the kind of leg that suited him best, in the sense that there weren’t any fast reaching legs. He handled it well and I think he’ll be pleased with second place.”
Naturally, Gaston Morvan was delighted with younger brother Paul’s third-place finish after a poor start. “I was a bit worried because he seemed slightly off the pace speed-wise at first, but he recovered really well and sailed the final twenty hours brilliantly, especially in the light airs where he clearly had a speed edge over the others.” A finish that prompted Erwan Tabarly to say: “Paul has improved this year in terms of knowing when to attack, but also how to properly manage the moments when things aren’t going well. This time, he managed to preserve enough energy to remobilise at the end and make a few key gybes in the right places.”
Tom Goron,
the stage’s unlucky sailor
Our experts also praised the strong performances from Martin Le Pape (Paprec), “who finished fourth despite only taking over the boat at the very last minute,” notes Gildas Mahé, and Nicolas Lunven (PRB), fifth overall, of whom Gaston Morvan says: “He’s seriously in the mix! Everyone expected him to be there because even though he hadn’t sailed a Figaro for a long time, he worked hard over the winter and was clearly one of the key players. I think when there are bigger tactical decisions to make, he’ll express himself even better than on this stage, which was relatively locked-in tactically. Things are going to happen.”
Missing from that top 10, however, was Tom Goron (Xplorassur), who finished 15th after suffering an autopilot failure early on that forced him to return to port. “Because there were so few options and the speed differences upwind between the top sailors were tiny, he really struggled to claw his way back. He was hoping the light airs off Spain would completely reshuffle the race, but the leaders weren’t slowed down enough, so he carried that handicap with him all the way to the finish,” says Gildas Mahé.
He adds: “The electronics technician fixed the autopilot issue in ten minutes, it was nothing major. Tom wasn’t able to solve it himself at sea, and that may be the lesson he takes from this. The sailors spend huge amounts of time in training working on tiny tuning details, but here what hurt him was not knowing his second autopilot system well enough. In the stress of the start, though, it’s understandable, it’s harder to think clearly.”
“It was tough seeing him struggling with the autopilot on the coastal race footage, it really handicapped him, but he’s going to produce some great things in the upcoming legs,” assures Erwan Tabarly. The next one starts on Sunday from Vigo, heading directly to Pornichet.
Photo : Thomas Campion / La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec
